Wednesday, August 27, 2003

I cannot believe the folks made me cry yesterday. It was just horrible.

I woke up this morning ON A MISSION! I will take charge, 'manage my treatment' as everyone keeps telling me. First I went to Dr. Andonian's office to pick up the paperwork. Saw a beautiful V12 Jag e-type in the parking lot.

Spoke to Dr. Andonain's nurse, who was shocked at the bahavior of the BASTARDS at the Fertility Institute, [(408) 356-5000 2516 Samaritan Drive Suite A, if you happen to be driving by with a bag of dead rats, please feel free to throw them over their fence....] She said service is usually very good with them, but... She did have the lab paperwork ready, and suggested I use UniLab, right across the aisle from Andonian.

Since I MUST get the bloodwork done, might as well do it there. 4 vials. FOUR! eeek, needles. But gave the blood samples, then wandered out to my truck, ready for work. Got in the truck, then woke up slumped over the steering wheel, apparently, I got a little light headed and passed out. And sat there, for a couple of minutes. Hmmm, that's not right. So I went across the street, had some orange juice and a pumpkin empanada.

When I was positive I was feeling better, I drove in to work, and commenced to try to do good things.

And thought more about this sperm bank thing. There HAS to be better facilities, that do not make me cry. Last night Sara sent me some suggestions, so did my good pal Lionel Hall, and a few other folks had ideas.

The BEST thing that happened was an email from my sister. Go Sherry Go! She shed some light on the whole thing:

"The people at the BANK sound very unprofessional...but they work with giz all day long. They're either going to be weirdos or irritable."

and that got me giggling. Then she wrote a but about Ladybird the Wonderdog and Bob the Cat at the vet's office:

"I chuckled about the description of Ladybird at the vet. "No! Nooooo! Not THE SPOON!" She would stand there, perfectly still....thinking about chomping until she felt bones splintering in her jaws. Damn good dog. Bob Katz was actually worse. He would grab hold of the vet's hand with both paws and bite while humping the vet's arm. Once, he would be still for a moment and lull everyone into a false sense of security before taking another swing."

Yeah, I miss my pets, and love my sister.

So with renewed strength and vigor, I began calling. California CryoBank in Palo Alto! Only a little north of San Jose, and Cindy on the telephone was kind, compassionate, and all about business. She explained I would need an initial consultation visit (Tuesday, Sept 2, 9:30 AM) They would do some blood work, then I could make some popsicles.

I feel SO much better about them. JUST from talking to the receptionist. Yes, it IS all about customer service.